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Ian Bond

@cerianbond.bsky.social

33K followers 11K following 1.6K posts

Deputy director, Centre for European Reform, London @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social . Supporter of democracy, the rule of law, the EU & Ukraine. Opponent of authoritarianism, corruption & Putin's Russia.

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · May 31

It's been a long time coming, but I am delighted to announce that the 2nd edition of the Routledge Guide to the European Union will be published on June 30th, and is available for pre-order from June 9th. @routledgebuseco.bsky.social @tandfresearch.bsky.social www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...

The Routledge Guide to the European Union

Written by experts, this long-established and definitive guide to the workings of the European Union provides comprehensive, straightforward and readable coverage of this sometimes misunderstood and c...

www.routledge.com

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Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 3h

Thank you to @cerianbond.bsky.social & John Hemmings @congeostrategy.bsky.social for speaking at our @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social/ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) hybrid launch of 'China and Europe: Can the EU and the UK find a shared strategy?' in London yesterday.

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Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 1h

China’s combination of indigenous military technological advances and imported know-how is a threat to its neighbours. 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 🇬🇧

New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social /Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) UK & Ireland policy brief by @cerianbond.bsky.social

Read here: buff.ly/EJXAsaz

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 1d

Serious read of the day - @cerianbond.bsky.social on Europe / China relations. Conclusion - "embrace the idea of systemic rivalry and work to ensure that European liberal, democracy – battered
though it looks at present – shows its superiority" www.cer.eu/sites/defaul...

www.cer.eu

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 1d

Very good, particularly agree that strategies to date have offered little, I also think as well as the thoughts I offered, that we can't carry on just saying climate change as an area of cooperation. We have to also try to thicken other ties at least for mutual understanding.

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denismacshane.bsky.social @denismacshane.bsky.social · 1d

Timely report by CER and Konrad Adenauer Foundation on how EU + U.K. might handle China. Shame no one from HMG takes part in any discussions on shaping Europe wide policy on this key geopolitical issue
As we see in ridiculous petty party point scoring right now we are getting pigtails in a twist

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 1d

My new piece for @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social on EU-UK co-operation on China policy. Tl;dr: if you say a country is a systemic rival, or that competing with it may have huge consequences for your citizens, you need more serious policy responses than either the EU or UK have offered so far.

Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 1d

China’s rise, its support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine & the unreliability of Trump’s US have sharpened the dilemmas in European policy towards China. 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 🇬🇧

New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social policy brief by @cerianbond.bsky.social

Read here: buff.ly/EJXAsaz

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Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 2d

📅 JOIN US - Tomorrow: @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social /Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) hybrid launch of 'China and Europe: Can the EU and the UK find a shared strategy?' with @cerianbond.bsky.social & John Hemmings @congeostrategy.bsky.social

Email: [email protected] for info and registration

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Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 6d

📅 JOIN US - 14/10/25: @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social /Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK & Ireland hybrid launch of 'China and Europe: Can the EU and the UK find a shared strategy?' with @cerianbond.bsky.social and John Hemmings @congeostrategy.bsky.social

Email: [email protected] for info & registration

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Armida van Rij @armida.bsky.social · 6d

Welcome Charles Grant @cergrant.bsky.social to Bsky! This means the whole @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social research team is here - make sure to follow for their excellent analysis.

@cerianbond.bsky.social
@elisabettaco.bsky.social
@zecsaky.bsky.social
@sandertordoir.bsky.social
@aslak.bsky.social

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 6d

Definitely! And so far, he's judged that better than how many days it would take to capture Kyiv.

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 6d

Invading Ukraine seems (at least in retrospect) more than a small risk! But I agree about the risks associated with drones over NATO territory.

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Nigel Gould-Davies @nigelgould-davies.bsky.social · 6d

I agree. I think Russia is worried about adverse trends, and this is why it is pushing harder against Europe. The goal is to shift the balance of resolve in its favour in order to undermine the balance of resources tilting against it @keirgiles.bsky.social

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 7d

I think we're beyond the stage of the war when oligarchs might remove Putin to save their assets in the West (maybe that was never realistic). The value of tightening sanctions & export controls is to make it harder for Russia to finance the war & acquire foreign tech & components for arms.

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 7d

I'm sure he does want to divert weapons & other support away from Ukraine. But he also probes NATO's eastern flank to see what happens. The rhetoric he & other senior officials use about Poland, the Baltic states & Finland resembles that used about Ukraine in the years leading up to the invasion.

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PubAffairs EU Debates, News & Opinions 🇪🇺 @pubaffairsbruxelles.eu · 7d

#UkraineWar: Can #Europe save #Ukraine – and itself – from #Putin and #Trump?, by @cerianbond.bsky.social | @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social

www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

Can Europe save Ukraine – and itself – from Putin and Trump? - PubAffairs Bruxelles

The official accounts of the meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on August 18th portrayed an attractive fantasy. The latest meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’...

www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 7d

I agree. I've seen Putin described as risk-averse; I don't think that's right. He takes risks that other leaders wouldn't, but only when he assesses that the likelihood of an effective response is low. The West has yet to change his assessment that he can keep pushing us back.

Keir Giles @keirgiles.bsky.social · 7d

Here is @nigelgould-davies.bsky.social on Russia’s disruption campaign against Europe. I’m not sure I would be so optimistic on the Kremlin being worried by US & EUR behaviour, but the conclusion is unshakeable: absent a serious response, this will get much worse.

www.iiss.org/online-analy...

Screenshot from linked article, saying Western officials are puzzled, but they shouldn’t be.

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Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 8d

Un reto, el de enfrentarse a una nueva metodología en el combate, al que la OTAN se asoma en un momento crucial. En ese sentido, @cerianbond.bsky.social, subdirector del @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social, explica a ABC que no cree que la OTAN esté lista.

buff.ly/OISSacL

Incursiones, sabotajes y un amplio radio de acción: los drones rusos que tienen capacidad para cruzar media Europa

Esta misma semana, los líderes europeos se han dado cita en Dinamarca con el objetivo de fijar una hoja de ruta para responder a la guerra híbrida

www.abc.es

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Zselyke Csaky @zecsaky.bsky.social · 9d

Here is something on Czechia's elections and the implications for the EU from me:

Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 9d

#Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš now faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.

Quick @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social reaction from @zecsaky.bsky.social

Read here:

CER quick reaction: The Czech elections

Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.

buff.ly

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 10d

I’ve noticed that a lot of people write “ECHR” for the Convention & “ECtHR” for the Court, which helps. But it won’t do anything about the determination of some people to believe that if something starts with “European” it must be another devilish EU plot.

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 10d

UK courts’ job is to ensure govt only does things legally. Occasionally ppl think UK courts & govt erred, & appeal to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. On avg, since 2012 the Court has ruled against UK govt 4 times a year. 3. If death penalty deters, why is US murder rate 4x UK’s? 2/2

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 10d

On the basis that you might be serious about this: 1. The ECHR & the Court have nothing to do with ‘Brussels’. The ECHR was to a large extent the work of former Nuremberg prosecutor & later (hard-line) Tory Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe. 2. UK has its own laws on deportation. 1/2

Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 10d

But the Court was established by the Convention to rule on "all matters concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention and the Protocols thereto", & parties to the Convention "undertake to abide by the final judgment of the Court". So the UK can't reject one without rejecting both.

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 11d

I think that's unfair to Paxman, whose mantra was "Why is this lying liar lying to me?" - perhaps excessively cynical, but at least resulting in him challenging politicians. It's the unwillingness of his successors to challenge even obvious lies that's so destructive.

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 11d

Just heard Chris Philp on BBC’s Today programme explaining why the Tories want to leave the ECHR. He claimed ECHR isn’t mentioned in Belfast Agreement - which is simply untrue. The UK govt agreed to incorporate it into NI law & give direct access to the courts (Strand 3). Why no BBC fact-check?

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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 14d

Sounds like a recipe for war crimes - or encouragement to commit them. It will potentially make it much harder for the US to fight alongside allies: I remember tortuous debates in NATO in the late 1980s on differing US & allied rules of engagement - & what Hegseth says implies a much bigger gap.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14d

Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."

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